Diamonds and Rust
by LadyOfWinds
Summary: "You're a diamond Seph. Just hidden beneath layers upon layers of rust."  Sephiroth's friends decide to send him to a psychiatrist to help with his problems, but in the end he finds much more than just a solution. AU, SephyZack & CloudxReno.
1. Prologue: First Impressions

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did Sephiroth and Zack would have been making out instead of fighting each other and Zack wouldn't have died._

_Prologue: First Impressions._

Standing with his back facing the front door a boy of about sixteen years old ran a hand through his spikey blond hair. A sigh escaped his lips as bright blue eyes scanned the street in front of him

"I'm so _not_ looking forward to this." He mumbled against himself as he started walking. Stuffing his hands deep in his pockets he thought about how everything had changed in way to less time. One moment he had been living his usual boring and dull life in Nibleheim and the next he found himself being send to his uncle in Midgar. He did knew why his parents had send him here, though. His family had always been short on money and now with his parents their business running bad there just wasn't any money left for his tuition. That was where uncle Zackary Fair had come in, he had told his parents that he could dome live with him in Midgar until business got better again and wouldn't mind paying for his tuition.

That was all good and well, were it not for the fact that his uncle was about as zealous and cheerful as a puppy. Seriously, that man couldn't sit still for longer than five seconds, and to top it all off, what on Gaia was with that giant broadsword of his? Sometimes he really wondered how that man had been able to become a psychologist.

But, the blond thought, after having been awoken by his puppy-like uncle pouncing on him and rambling about how nice it was to have him here as he prepared for school, how much worse and absolutely crazed could his day get? Surely there would be some nice kids at school who would want to befriend the new kid, right?

- Diamonds and Rust –

Luckily he had been able to go in yesterday to pick up his books, schedule and locker number. Having opened his locker to take out the books he needed he glanced down at the schedule in his hand. First period…. war tactics? What messed up kind of school, besides a military one that is, teaches war tactics? One blond eyebrow was raised in a puzzled expression. Just great, everything in Midgar is just plain weird. At least his second period was more normal, literature.

As the blond entered the classroom he saw that most seats were already taken. Scanning the room he saw a free seat beside a boy with fiery red hair and twin tattoos on his cheekbones. 'Oh great' He thought. 'The people here even got weird hair colours and tattoos on their faces.'

Setting himself down beside the redhead he was given a bright smile which he meekly returned. 'Even better, everyone's a friggin puppy in this city.'

"You're new, right? Never seen you before, yo" The redhead suddenly said to him after a few moments of silence, fingers playing with the end of his red ponytail. "Name's Reno." The blond just nodded softly at this. "I'm new indeed. I'm Cloud Strife, nice to meet you."

The redhead now known as Reno opened his mouth to speak again but quickly shut it when the door opened and a tall man with knee-length silver hair and an annoyed scowl on his face walked it. Cloud felt his eyes grow wide as saucers. This was their teacher? A shiver ran down his spine and he couldn't help but swallow. The guy looked like he was going to snap the neck of the first student that made a sound.

Reno tapped him on his shoulder and he averted his gaze from their teacher. "That's Sephiroth, though he insist on being called 'Sir' or 'General', yo" The redhead whispered behind his hand. "Do NOT piss him off, you might lose a limb in the process." Cloud's eyes widened once more and his gaze was back on the teacher. "lose… a limb?" He mumbled in disbelief.

That moment Sephiroth directed his gaze towards Reno and Cloud, effectively shutting them up with his cold, green, catlike gaze. Somehow the blond felt himself sitting up as straight as possible and he felt the strange urge to salute.

By the end of the lesson Cloud had grown to frightened of Sephiroth's violent outbursts and hurtful remarks to even attempt answering. Several girls and even a few boys had started crying due to those. A wave of relief washed over Cloud when the bell finally rang. This must have been, by far, his longest period ever.

Reno stretched himself in his seat before getting up and Cloud banged his head on his desk a few times. "In the name of Gaia. Is the guy always like that? How am I ever going to survive" He groaned before gathering his things. "Actually, today we were pretty lucky. He was in a surprisingly good mood, yo." Reno shrugged casually.

"GOOD?" The blond shrieked in disbelief. "You mean it can get worse?" "Oh yes, definitely, yo. Just wait until he points Masamune at you. Wouldn't be the first to piss their pants, yo." Reno explained, grinning a bit at the mention of students pissing their pants. Wasn't all that surprising really. Those unearthly eyes of his, they seemed to look right into your soul and know all your secrets.

"Masamune?" They were currently going up the stairs seeing as they both had literature on the top floor. Reno nodded, once again playing with the tip of his long red ponytail. "Uh-huh. Masamune, his seven feet katana. Sharp like nothing I've ever seen before, yo. Cuts a falling piece of paper in half just like that." He snapped his fingers to empathize the fact. Cloud just let out another groan.

"What on Gaia is it with people in Midgar and swords." Face was tilted towards the ceiling as he dramatically threw his arms in the air. Reno just cocked his head to the side in confusion. Great, puppy number two. You know what? Let's start a kennel. "Yeah, swords. Big, sharp, metal things. Apparently that crazed teacher got a seven foot one. I mean, for Shiva's sake, seven feet, How on Gaia can someone effectively wield something like that without cutting off their own head. And he's not the only one. My uncle Zack, he's got like this giant broadsword he calls The Buster Sword. The way he treats it, almost like he worships it or so." Cloud rambled, barely breathing as he spoke.

Reno's only reaction to all of this was a knowing snicker as they entered their classroom. Cloud was stull muttering against himself as they took their seats and waited for the teacher. A few moments later and with Cloud calmed down again the door was violently thrown open, loudly slamming into the wall.

"When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end. The goddess descends from the sky. Wings of light and dark spread afar. She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting." A melodically voice recited, coming from a redhead dressed in a long red leather coat and holding a book bound in white leather. "Loveless Act I." He shut his book with a soft thud as he turned a quarter in order to face the class.

At that very moment, if it not had been for the fact that he was inside a classroom filled with students and the teacher himself, Cloud would have wanted nothing more than to start banging his head on his desk in hopes of the headache causing him not to care anymore. "Another. Sword." He groaned. Reno just sniggered as he rested his chin on his folded arms on his desk. "Get used to it Spikey."

"Good morning class." The redheaded teacher lovingly placed his book on his desk, golden letters reading 'LOVELESS', before sitting himself on the corner, a red bladed sword hanging from his hip. "Ah, I see we have a new student. Welcome to ShinRa High. My name's Genesis Rhapsodos and I'll be your literature teacher. Now, tell us something about yourself." Hands were elegantly placed in his lap as he looked at the blond.

Suddenly several pairs of eyes were directed towards Cloud. "Euh.." The blond started nervously knotting his fingers together and was looking at the digits as if they were the most interesting thing ever. "I'm new. My name's Cloud Strife and I'm sixteen years old." He quickly glanced up at Mr. Rhapsodos and was given a small smile.

"Good" Mr. Rhapsodos clapped his hands together and crossed his legs, arms being placed behind him to support his weight. "Now then, before I start with today's lesson I'd like to inform you all about an assignment which will be due to next month." One gloved hand crept towards the book in order to gently rest on it. "All of you will have to choose a book of poetry and will have to write an essay of minimum three pages about the possible meanings and interpretations of the poems." A grin appeared on his face and an obsessed, maybe even borderline insane, gleam appeared in his blue eyes. "Personally I'd recommend 'LOVELESS'. It's an incredibly beautiful collections of poems with a lot of meaning and various interpretations."

Reno gently nudged the blond sitting beside him. When said blond turned to face his neighbour Reno was fairly sure he could see some fear as well as some serious 'WTF' in those blue orbs. Mr. Rhapsodos, in the meantime, was still gushing about the wonder that was 'LOVELESS'.

"Help. Me." Cloud whispered. The redhead just broke into a big grin and softly shook his head. "He's not that bad, really. Well, except for the constant praise of 'LOVELESS', yo." Cloud refused to believe this. "But he's got a sword. Is he going to kill us as well if we don't listen?" Fear shook the blond's soft voice.

"Naah." Reno shook his head again. "His Rapier is only there for decoration, yo. Well, most of the time. But don't worry. As long as you don't insult 'LOVELESS' you have nothing to fear of him. Except for an overdose 'Drama Queen'" Cloud still wasn't convinced and raised a blond eyebrow.

"Okaaay, but still, why all the swords? I mean, it's not really logical for three random people to own swords. Especially not teachers." Reno's blue eyes widened at those words. "You don't know? Man, you are so screwed, yo." And there was that fear back in the blond's eyes. "Know what?" Panic was now laced with his voice."

Reno just narrowed his eyes and grinned evilly as he brought his face closer towards Cloud's. "About the monsters…. yo" Cloud made a movement as if he had just been hit by an electrical shock. "Whaaat? Monsters?" He yelped. "Uh-huh" The redhead nodded. "They live just outside the city. But sometimes some wander into the city. It's why everyone learns how to wield a weapon as a kid, yo To defend themselves, yo."

A sound that was something between a whine and a groan escaped Cloud's lips as he dropped his head on his desk. "Just great. Just my luck. Me, the weakest scaredy cat of whole Nibleheim gets to be send to his uncle who just happens to live in a city full of monsters." He grumbled more to himself than his newfound friend.

It was about then that Mr. Rhapsodos had finished praising 'LOVELESS' and started the actual lesson. Cloud tried to keep his mind as much on the lesson as possible instead of on the monsters that may be lurking outside.

- Diamonds and Rust –

By the time school was over Cloud wanted nothing more than to curl up under the covers of his bed and stay there for the rest of his time in Midgar. If today had been any indication of how the rest of his days here would be he'd preferable not even think about it.

It hadn't stopped at the silver haired psycho and the 'LOVELESS' obsessed teacher. Nooooo, that had only been the beginning of it all. There was their history teacher, Mr. Valentine, who Cloud was convinced was a vampire. Their chemistry teacher, Professor Hojo, who was constantly muttering about bio genetic engineering and something about a perfect weapon or so. Seriously, that guy have him the creeps. Then their P.E. teacher, Mr. Hewley. The blond was pretty much convinced that he must have been in the army with the way he treats his students, drilling them like cadets. And last but not least was their physics teacher, Mr. Highway. He seemed the most normal of all teachers Cloud had met that day, well, if you ignored the fact that he smoked in class whilst drinking tea and uttering profanities. That and the fact that somehow everything he said had to do with airships.

Cloud had been tense all day. That wasn't a school, that was a madhouse. Reno had told him not to worry but how could he when he was surrounded by madmen with weapons. That's right, besides the numerous swords owned by several of the teachers he had spotted guns and spears as well.

When lunch had finally come around Reno had taken Cloud to meet some of his friends. Tseng, a stoic raven, Elena, a cheerful blond and Rude, silent, bald and wearing sunglasses. A bit before lunch ended, Tseng, Elena and Rude left again, saying they had something to do.

After the trio left Cloud had almost shyly tapped Reno on the shoulder. "Reno, about those monsters. Are they really that dangerous that every teacher here has a weapon?" The armed teachers and monsters coming into the city had bothered the blond all morning. This morning, when he had walked to school everything had seemed fine but now he was a bit scared of having to walk home again by himself and unarmed.

"Uh-huh." Reno nodded. They've been a real pest lately, yo." Grinning widely the redhead reached inside his bag and took out what seemed to be a long metal rod. "And it's not only the teachers who're armed, yo. Students as well." Cloud looked at the rod curiously. "What is it." Reno's grin gained an allure of mischief as he touched the tip of the rod to Cloud's arm. "EMR." The next second Reno had pressed a button and Cloud fell to the ground, unable to move himself for several moments. "Short for Electro-Mag Rod, yo. Shocking, isn't it?"

Growling, Cloud pulled himself up on his seat and sat down again. "Very." He hissed, blue eyes glaring. If looks could kill Reno would have been dead a gazillion times over. "Eheh…" The redhead sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Okay, that hadn't been a funny as it had been in his head. "Sorry man."

"You better be." The blond murmured as he looked down at his hands. When after a few moments he finally looked back up he was pouting, big blue eyes wide with innocence. "That really hurt you know. Now, what I wanted to ask you. Will you walk me home tonight?" Pout grew in intensity and unshed tears glistened in his eyes. "Please?"

Suddenly the cocky redhead very much represented a fish, mouth opening and closing several times. "I…. euh… I…" Lower lip trembled and blue eyes blinked a few times, causing a single tear to fall down. Cloud saw Reno's resistance break. Mission Accomplished. "Fine, yo. I'll walk you home, but only because I don't want to see you become a monster's snack. Understood?"

Nodding fiercely a bright smile illuminated the blond's features. "Thank youuuuuuu."

- Diamonds and Rust –

When Cloud heard the front door being unlocked and opened he quickly hurried out of his room and down the stairs, coming to a halt in the hallway, arms crossed and lips formed into a pout. As Zack spotted his nephew he smiled brightly. "Well hello there little chocobo-head. Did ya miss me?" Tone of voice overly cheerful. "Why didn't you tell me?" The shorter blond asked, the hint of a whine audible in his voice, foot stomping on the floor. "Huh" The raven cocked his head to the side. "Tell you what?"

"About the monsters! Apparently there are monsters in this town and you just sent me to walk to school unarmed and with no knowledge about them whatsoever. I could have been killed for all I know" Arms were thrown into the air again before the blond sniffled softly. "I don't want to be eaten." Sniffling once more he rubbed at his eyes.

Zack immediately felt guilty to the bone. "Oh Cloudster, I'm sorry." He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the blond. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry. Those monsters seldom come as deep into the city as this." Cloud, still sniffling turned his head upwards to look at his uncle, blue eyes matching his but with hair as dark as the night yet as spikey. "You really didn't tell because you didn't want me to worry about it?"

Bright smile returned and Zack nodded. "Uh-huh. But if you're really scared of being eaten I can teach you how to fight if you want to." Cloud returned the smile. "Thanks Zack." He quickly hugged the older man before going back to his room, sly smile adorning his lips. 'The Kicked Puppy' look, a guaranteed success every time he used it. "Dinner will be ready in an hour." Zack yelled after him.

As the blond lay himself down on his bed a ghost of a smile still remained on his lips as he grabbed his iPod from his nightstand and placed the buds in his ears. Maybe surviving in here wouldn't be as hard as he had initially thought. It was still a place filled with madmen but he could get used to that. Or at least so he hoped. 'Yeah, how hard can it be, really.'He thought as he lost himself in his favourite tunes.

Unfortunately for Cloud, Fate either didn't like him very much or just liked seeing him suffer.

_AN: Hello everyone. This is a plot idea that has been bothering me for quite some time now and I finally decided to start writing it. Unfortunately, the plot bunnies seem to have already taken over. Blame them for the Cloud-centrism of this chapter. The actual story will start next chapter and will focus more on Zack and Sephiroth, though I can't say there won't be any more Cloud bashing. The kid's just too cute for his own good._

_Please R&R, reviews are what motivate me to write as well as they make me happy._


	2. I: Meeting

_Disclaimer: Don't own, well, except for the plot. And even that could be said to be owned by the plot bunnies nomming my brains._

_Chapter I: Meeting_

The sound of hordes of running footsteps, the occasional tumble and muffled cries could be heard coming from the hallway. The teachers that had been residing in the teachers lounge immediately stopped whatever they were doing, exchanged frightened glances and bolted out of the door like one. All except for two who were just shaking their heads as they sighed irritatedly and rolled their eyes.

Mere seconds later the door flew open and a tall figure clad in black walked inside, long silver bangs whipping around his face in an imaginary breeze. Sephiroth gave the other two men a nod of recognition as he slung Masamune over his shoulder, muttering something under his breath.

The redhead and raven sitting at the table exchanged one last meaningful glance before giving the man standing in front of them a disapproving look. "Sephiroth…" Angeal started, lacing his fingers together and placing them on the table in front of him. "What did you do again this time?" "Yeah Seph, what did you do to those poor kids. Cut off an arm? Slit a throat? Sliced someone in two?" The redhead, Genesis chimed in, some sort of sick pleasure apparent in his eyes and in the way his lips curled upwards.

The Silver General, as he was often referred to by students, casted his gaze downwards and for a moment very much resembled like a child being scolded. "It's their own fault." He said softly, doing nothing but strengthen the image of him as a sulking child. However, that image was very quickly chased out of the minds of the two others as green cat-eyes suddenly seemed to erupt with an internal fire. Fingers tightened around the massive sword's handle. "Those. ignorant. Little. Brats." With a loud war cry Sephiroth swung the blade through the air and neatly cleaved the table in two.

Angeal and Genesis' eyes widened in surprise but before either of them could react to their friend's violent behaviour Sephiroth had already swung Masamune back over his shoulder and had started pacing the room, rambling. "They're nothing but ignorant little brats. All that does in class is texting and talking and sleeping and listening to music and daydreaming and Gaia knows what else they do. And it's not just that, barely anyone is able to make decent task or test. I believe that at the moment only two students have enough points in order to pass." He pointed Masamune at Genesis, tip just millimetres away from the skin between blue eyes. "If the only reason they come to class is to ignore me and my lesson they can just as well stay home. What's the point in teaching them if they don't appreciate the beauty of the art of war." The tip of the blade changed position and was now pointed at Angeal. "If that is how things are then they are not worthy of being taught such a thing, something that should be appreciated and treasured. Unworthy of being taught by me."

By now the fire in his eyes had subdued and he sat himself down on a chair, arms crossed and once more very much looking like a sulking child. The raven and redhead weren't in the least impressed by the General's rant, they were used to it. It had been like this for years already, Sephiroth snapping, which really didn't take a lot, scaring every student and staff member except for Angeal and Genesis, he then vented and rambled about the fact that all of his students were ignorant brats before he would sulk like a child.

For a brief moment Genesis looked up from his copy of 'LOVELESS' which he had picked up whilst waiting for Sephiroth to be done, he knew from experience that his rambling could take hours if he had enough to vent about, before going back to it. He knew what was coming next, it was always the same after all.

"Sephiroth…" Angeal pinched the bridge of his nose, tone of voice disappointed and very much like one would use to scold a child. "I have told you a thousand times before and I will tell you again. Please. Contain. Your anger. They are only children and will therefore act like it. I agree that indeed, they most likely are unable to appreciate the art of war but then again, they are children. They grew up in safety and far away from anything even resembling war." Angeal paused for a moment and looked sternly into those cat-like eyes, searching for even the faintest hint of comprehension. No such luck, again. "It all comes down to your problem of containing your anger Sephiroth. If you wouldn't scare them like that and threaten them all the time they I'm sure they would get much better marks as well."

Seriously, the raven had no idea why he even bothered anymore. His attempts were futile. "Go ahead Genesis. I'm done here." He gave the literature teacher an short nod before leaning back in his chair. An eager grin appeared on the teacher's face. "Thank you Angeal." Genesis closed his book and put it inside his red coat. An expression like that was never a good sign with the redhead. "Seph, my friend," He uncrossed his legs and stood up. "Angeal and I, we have given you a chance and gave tried our best in order to help you. Unfortunately, we failed." He dramatically placed a gloved hand on his chest before raising a single finger in front of the silveret's face. "But. As we are your kind and caring friends we won't give up on helping you even though we failed ourselves. As a result of this, Angeal and I have decided to take you to a psychiatrist, knowing that you would never go to one out of your own free will. It is in your own interest Seph." Watching Sephiroth the redhead leaned himself against a table, smug grin on his face.

Sephiroth's eyes had grown wide at the mention of a psychiatrist. After a few moments his eyes narrowed into green, glowing slits, glaring at both his friends. "You want me to do what? I do not require the help of a shrink. I am perfectly fine." The General said sternly. What were those people thinking that he wasn't good in his head or so. "I'm not going." He stated, as if that was the end of it.

"You do need help Sephiroth. I'm sorry that I have to state it so blandly, but you are flawed. Even if you may not think so yourself." Angeal crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked straight into those cat-like eyes, not in the least frightened by their intensity. "Angeal's right. I mean, seriously. One, you've got terrible anger issues. Two, you pretty much serve from a god complex and you're about as narcissistic as the guy who gave his name to the phenomena. Three, you've got this unreasonable phobia of scientists. I know for a fact that you despise even being on the same floor as any of the science teachers, mainly Hojo, but I admit, he's a creep. Four, you've got absolutely zero people skills nor do you seem to possess a grain of empathy." Genesis was ticking off every item on his fingers, grin widening with every digit. "You need me to continue, _sir_?" The last was added with a snicker.

The tall man's lips had thinned into a fine line and at the moment Sephiroth wanted nothing more than to send some Behemoths after his so-called friend. "Still, I do not need the help of something as pathetic as a psychologist." The last word was spoken as if it left a vile taste into the man's mouth. "Yes, I may be better and a bit different than most but that doesn't mean something's wrong with me." The redhead just rolled his eyes. "All that awaits you is a sombre morrow. No matter where the winds may blow. Sephiroth, my friend. That was a perfect example of denial but really, do you want to spend the rest of your life feared by everyone, spend the rest of your life alone?" He raised an elegant red eyebrow.

Unconsciously Sephiroth stroked his long blade and opened his mouth to speak but was rudely interrupted by Genesis. "And don't tell me you've got Masamune. She's a sword. I'm talking about a live person." The silveret shut his mouth and looked at the floor whilst mumbling something. "That's what I thought." Genesis nodded.

The tall man looked towards Angeal for help but was met with a shake of the head. "Genesis is right Sephiroth. We may be your friends but that doesn't mean we will be able to constantly look after you for the rest of your life." The redhead walked over to his friend and reassuringly lay a hand on the other's shoulder. "We only want to help you Sephiroth. You deserve someone to love you but with the way you are now I don't think anything would last long. That's why we want you to face your problems. I'm pretty sure that once those are taken care of you will have no problem finding a caring girlfriend. You definitely have the looks." Genesis kindly explained, patting the black-clad shoulder a few times before sitting down next to Angeal again. "You'll thank us in the end."

Sephiroth pursed his lips at the mention of a girlfriend. He really didn't want some girl to constantly hang around him, irritating him by poking her nose into his business. No, he'd pass on that. Yet whilst thinking this he just nodded at his friends. He didn't feel the need to defy his only two friends and call Genesis' wrath over him. After all, the redhead had a temper much like his own, he was just better at controlling it. And most of all, they truly believed they were helping him. Well, they could try. Not that it would matter much. He, The Silver General Sephiroth didn't need a psychiatrist, he was perfect as he was.

Angeal and Genesis started gathering their things, both had classes to teach in a couple of minutes. "Very good then, now that you have accepted there is nothing else for you to worry about. An appointment has already been made, Friday, half an hour after your last class." With those last words from Angeal both men left and let Sephiroth to his own thoughts.

- Diamonds and Rust –

Sephiroth was not pleased. Not pleased at all. He had thought that he would have been able to forget about the thing with the psychologist but nothing had been less true. The thought had been plaguing his mind non-stop ever since he had been told. And today was that dreaded day. He had barely excited the classroom in which he had taught his last class of the day or Angeal and Genesis were already stalking over towards him, grabbing an arm each and literally dragged him to Angeal's car. If Sephiroth would have been a cat then he would have hooked his claws in the curtains much like a cat who didn't want to go to the vet. But alas, he was no cat and sat now in the backseat of his friend's car. Genesis beside him to make sure he wouldn't throw open the door and jump out. It may seem like an insane idea but the raven and redhead didn't put it past their friend to do this. If Sephiroth didn't want to do something than he did everything not to do it.

However, with the bi-polar literature teacher beside him watching him like a hawk there wasn't much the silveret could do but grumble irritatedly.

When they eventually arrived at the building Sephiroth very much resembled a sulking kid as Genesis quickly made sure he didn't have Masamune or any other weapon on him before nodding towards Angeal. Still grumbling softly Sephiroth was led into the building and waited with Angeal as Genesis went over towards the secretary. "Hello," He placed his forearms on the desk and leaned on them. "My friend there," He pointed over his shoulder at Sephiroth. "Has an appointment with Dr. Fair. His name's Sephiroth." The secretary nodded and looked at the agenda that lay in front of her. "Sephiroth, 4:30 PM. The doctor's former patient just left so he can go straight in." She answered.

"Thank you, miss." Genesis nodded with a small smile before turning on his heels and walking over towards his two friends. "You can go right in Sephy." He patted the taller man on the shoulder before heading towards the exit. Angeal gave the silveret a stern look before headed after his redhead friend. "Behave." Was all he said.

Sephiroth looked at his friends until they disappeared through the door before taking a deep breath, hands balled into fists, green eyes fixated on the silver letters on the wooden door a mere few feet ahead of him. Dr. Fair. He took a hesitant step towards the door but paused when he noticed his hands had become sweaty. Another deep breath was drawn. He was nervous. The emotionless Silver General was nervous. And maybe just a wee bit scared. Another hesitant step was taken. His whole week of pondering had left him wondering of many 'what ifs'. What if there was indeed something wrong with him. In all truth, that thought scared him, like, a lot.

Zack was working on some files as he waited for his next patient to come in. He finished writing a sentence and looked up when he heard the doorknob slowly being turned. Closing his pen and the file he put both back in their rightful places before standing up after a quick glance at the man's file. Okay, so apparently the man's name was Sephiroth, taught war tactics at ShinRa High and his friends had arranged this appointment because they were worried about the man and wanted to help him.

He had just reached the door when it fully opened and revealed a tall man dressed in black with knee-length silver hair. Zack felt his eyes widen slightly at the mere sight of him. The man was absolutely gorgeous. He mentally slapped himself for that thought. The man was his patient. He wasn't supposed to check him out like this and…. Oh Gaia, Zack Fair get your mind out of the gutter. Those are by no means appropriate thoughts to be thinking about a patient. With another mental slap he finally got his vocal chords to work and his eyes to focus on the man's face instead of have them roam over that perfect body. Another slap.

Finally he managed a friendly smile and extended his hand. "Hello Sephiroth. My name's Zackary Fair but you can just call me Zack." As with almost every patient that came here for the first time the silverette was nervous and tense. As with everyone else he did his best to act friendly in order to calm the man. Show that he was no threat and wanted to help. " Have a seat, please." He motioned towards a chair in front of his desk before slipping behind the large piece of furniture and sitting down in his own chair.

Sephiroth had furrowed his brows when he had spotted the young raven standing inside the room as he had entered. That boy was a psychologist? Was supposed to help him? He was no more than a kid! He nodded when the boy introduced himself, refusing to take his extended hand and oblivious to his mental struggle. When he was told to sit down he did so but by the time he was seated his frown had even deepened. Somehow, he felt less nervous. As if something in the air had calmed his unsettled nerves. It was strange and puzzled the silveret a little.

His attention was then directed to the raven, Zackary. Had the boy already done something to him? As he watched him, studied the friendly smile and soft eyes, he noticed that he was the reason his nervousness had subdued. The young psychologist had a calming aura that seemed to radiate off of him, affecting Sephiroth. This however, did nothing to reassure the tall man. Somewhere in the back of his mind the thought 'How dare this kid adjust the way I feel without my permission.' was formed.

Zack sat silent in his chair, waiting patiently for the man to end his pondering. When those eerie cat-like eyes finally focused on him instead of just looking at him and the smallest change in his facial expression signalled the end of his thinking Zack gave a soft not. "Now then Sephiroth, I read here that your friends are the ones who arranged this appointment for you. Do you know why they did so and if so, could you tell me?" He hadn't been given much information about what it was that had led this man's friends to send him to a physiatrist so his first task would be to find out if the man actually needed help or if he was just a bit odd and had some worrywarts for friends. He'd had people like that before.

A silver eyebrow was raised slightly at that question. He hadn't actually been sure of what to expect from a shrink but it hadn't been this. The boy just wanted him to tell him why Angeal and Genesis had sent him here? He could do that. Maybe the raven would agree with him, say that he was perfectly fine and Angeal and Genesis were just two overprotective mother hens. Bye bye to their so called brilliant plan.

A little smirk curled the sides of his mouth upwards as he leaned back into the chair, one arm lazily resting on the armrest whilst the other supported his head.

Zack immediately noticed this change of stance, even the slightest hint of nervousness and fear now gone, evaporated like snow in the sun. He said nothing but his mind immediately jumped into analytic mode, taking note of everything the man did and would to in order to interpreted it.

"All of this," The general motioned with his hand around the room. "Was indeed their idea. They seem to be worried by the way I… handle things. They seem to be worried with the way I handle my students. I'm a teacher, you see, and one of the things I find extremely annoying are ignorant students and students that do absolutely nothing for my subject. Unfortunately, most of my students seem to be of this type. Because of this, I feel the need to discipline them, something I'm not scared of to make clear to them. Apparently, my friends think my ways are a little to… drastic. They think that threatening them with a sword goes to far." Sephiroth shrugged, obviously not seeing any problem with it. "I believe it to be the only way to get it through their thick hormone infested skulls that I do not accept ignorance in my lessons. If they believe to find themselves unworthy to be taught by someone as me than they deserve to be terrified. It'll teach them to try and defy me." His evil and slightly insane smirk grew in intensity as he thought of the students running away from him in terror.

Zack, meanwhile was listening intently to every word the man said whilst writing something down every now and then.

"They also think I need to learn how to _communicate_ with others and _understand_ them." Sephiroth continued, snickering softly. "Why would someone like _me_ need the company of _ordinary_ people. All the more, _Why_ would I need to _understand_ them. It is just ridiculous. Why I should grace them with my perfect presence I don't understand." He brushed some silver strands away that had fallen in his face. Indeed, what did his friends thought was wrong with him? He was perfect, a god. How silly had it been of him to be all nervous and frightened about the fact that there could possibly be anything wrong with him. A villainous laugh escaped him. He was nothing short of perfection. Sure this boy would see that and agree that his friends had been wrong. "As you can see Zackary, I'm perfectly fine. You can tell my friends that there was nothing for them to worry about. Goodbye." The silveret stood up from his chair, gave the raven a curt nod, smirk still present, turned around and headed towards the door. "It was a pleasure meeting you." With those last words the tall man disappeared through the door, quickly stalking outside of the building and spotting Angeal and Genesis.

The raven and redhead exchanged a worried glance when they noticed the slightly insane smirk on their friend's face. Sephiroth motioned for Angeal to open the car and when he sat inside he grabbed Masamune and started gently stroking the blade. Angeal and Genesis exchanged another look, both softly shaking their heads before climbing into the vehicle.

Zack let out a sigh as he lay his pen on his desk and leaned backwards in his chair, running a hand through his dark spikes. That guy surely was something, and not exactly in the good way. It was obvious that it would most likely take a heck of a long time to get this man to be even be able to function a little bit like a normal human being. The first issue would be to get that man back in here for a second appointment. Luckily, one of the man's friends, the one who had made the appointment had said to call him where there any problems.

- Diamonds and Rust –

Cloud tiredly flopped his body down on the couch in the living room. Finally. Friday. He had never been so glad to be back at home on Friday. Sure, he had always looked forwards to the weekends but never as much a this week. It was only his second week, or more like week and a half since he had started school on a Thursday, at ShinRa High and he already wished he could find a way to never return there. That school must be the most insane one on the entire planet, and not in a good way. Sephiroth had been extremely irritable the whole week and especially today. Seriously, something was definitely messed up in that guy's head. At least he had one friend there, else he was sure he would have already been dead. Despite how much he loathed going to the strange school Reno never failed to cheer him up, of course, this was only possible if said redhead was with him. Today he had barely seen the redhead except for the classes they had together, even stranger was the fact that Reno hadn't want to tell him the reason behind it. Had he become tired of him? Cloud really hoped not.

Luckily, it seemed like he was making more friends. It had started a bit weird, really. Whilst he was having lunch on his own the blond had constantly been having the feeling that someone was watching him but every time he would scan the lunchroom he would find no eyes directed towards him. Strange. He had been getting really paranoid when suddenly three girls had sat themselves at his table. He had looked at them strangely but they had just smiled sweetly, especially the taller two. The third seemed more like she was just tagging along.

"Hello, My name's Aerith." The first girl had said. She had been wearing a pink dress and a pink bow held her brown hair up in a ponytail. "You're new here, aren't you. We saw you sitting here all alone so we decided to say hi." Cloud had just nodded at her, smiling shyly when his attention was drawn towards the second girl, a brunet dressed in black as she began to speak. "My name's Tifa. Nice to meet you. And this little troublemaker here," She pointed at the third girl, a small raven with a headband. "Is Yuffie. Better watch your stuff around her." "Hey!" Yuffie exclaimed, huffing in an insulted way at Tifa before turning her attention to Cloud. "So, what's your name." Cloud looked at all three girls, they all seemed pretty eager to know his name with the way there were looking at him. "I-I'm Cloud." He said shyly, feeling a bit uncomfortable under their intense stares. "Cloud?" Yuffie cocked her head to the side in confusion, quickly glancing down at something in her hands before looking back up. "I thought it was Zack."

The blond just gave her a puzzled look in return. "Zack? No, Zack's my…" He was quickly interrupted when Tifa grabbed whatever it was that Yuffie was holding in her hands. "Heeeeeeey!" The smaller girl exclaimed before trying to take back whatever Tifa had taken from her. "That's mine." "No, it's not. It's Clouds." Tifa said sternly before giving the item to Aerith who then gave it to Cloud. It was a simple yet beautiful dagger that had the name 'Zack Fair' engraved on its sheath. Cloud's eyes widened when he took the item. "How…?" Aerith just smiled softly. "As Tifa said, you better watch your stuff around Yuffie. She's a cunning little thief. And who's Zack Fair?" The blond quickly put the dagger back in his bag and gave Yuffie a glare before returning to the brunet. "Zack's my uncle." His uncle had given him the dagger after he had told him that he was scared to go outside with the possibility of monsters attacking him. The raven had then showed him how to handle it and told him to keep it until he had found a weapon more to his liking.

Cloud and the girls chatted a bit as they ate their lunch. The blond was really glad that he had some friends here, without it would have most likely been a living hell for him. When the end of lunch neared their conversation was suddenly rudely interrupted as Reno sat himself down besides Cloud, laying facedown on the table as he groaned. "They're such slave drivers, yo." Cloud cocked an eyebrow in confusion but the three girls just giggled softly. "How's Tseng?" Aerith asked after she was done giggling. Reno didn't lift his head but lazily waved a hand in the air. "Same as ever. Stoic and a slave driver." Aerith giggled again. "Come on Reno, he's not that bad." The redhead finally lifted his head and gave the flower girl a sly smirk. "That's what you say." Reno knew Aerith had a bit of a crush on his raven senior. The brunet girl blushed lightly as she turned her head.

Reno kept on grinning, lifting a hand to pat Cloud on the head. "Glad to see you guys befriended my blond-chocobo here." The redhead looked at the girls and then at Cloud, hopeful look in those blue eyes. Cloud just raised a single blond eyebrow. "If you expect me to wark then you are heavily mistaken." Reno let out another groan. Awwwww, You're no fun, yo." The three girls just giggled at this.

A small smile was on Cloud's lips as he thought about today. He really hadn't expected to make friends this fast. He was sure he would be the bullied loner or so. Ooh well, all the better. Glancing at the wall clock he noticed that it would be a while before until Zack would be home so he grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels, coming across a fairly good movie which had only started and decided to watch.

- Diamonds and Rust –

Zack breathed out a sigh of relief when he rode up the driveway. He loved his job and everything, he really enjoyed helping other people and wouldn't want to do anything else but it was just that some days, some sessions left him emotionally drained. Some of the reasons why certain people were seeing him were just sickening. It was unbelievable what some people could do to another human being. And then there was that silver haired man, Sephiroth. Somehow, thoughts of the man had been plaguing Zack's mind for the rest of the day. There was just something about the man, somewhere deep beneath all that narcissism and uncaringness for others that just screamed to be loved, to be understood. To be accepted.

Another sigh escaped him as he ran his hand though his spikes. Once inside he spotted his nephew on the couch, the credits of some movie rolling over the screen. Smiling he made his way to the couch and leaned on the back, face next to Cloud's. "Was it a good movie?" Cloud shrugged. "I've seen better." Zack nodded before grabbing the back of the couch with one hand and swinging himself over it, landing in it in a seated position. "You know Zack, your city is insane." The raven uttered an amused laugh. "It sure is, isn't it. But you love it. Muuuuch better than your sleepy town." The look in the teen's eyes was slightly offended but a smile curled his lips. "Hey, I like my sleepy town. Thank you very much." Zack grabbed the smaller boy's head and ruffled his hair. "That's because you're boooooring." Snickering he let go of his nephew and looked at him. "So, how's school going? Made any friends already?"

Cloud's hands immediately flew up into his hair to rearrange his spiked with a huff before answering. "Pretty good. Well, except for the fact that most of the teachers are a bit strange and one really scares me." He shivered at the thought of Sephiroth's eerie cat-like eyes. "And I already made some friends. There's this guy called Reno, he's got this bright red hair and tattoos on his face but he's really funny and a bit of a moron actually. There's also Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie. They're really sweet and friends of Reno as well. Except for the fact that Yuffie tries to steal everything she can. 'To keep us sharp' she says. Right." Zack was snickering again. "An interesting group I must say." Cloud gave his uncle a smile and shrugged. "I guess. What about you? Anything interesting happened to you today."

The older male sighed and closed his eyes as he let his head fall against the back of the couch. "Nothing much, really. Except for the fact that I met the most beautiful person in the universe." Cloud's eyes widened a bit at this. "You did?" Zack opened one blue eye to look at the other. "Yeah, I did. Only one problem. It's a patient." He closed his eye again and ran a hand through his spikes. The blond couldn't help but laugh softly at this. "You sure know how to choose them Zack." Zack opened his eyes and smacked the blond upside the head. "Oh shut up you little chocobo-head." Cloud scrunched his nose at this. "Why does everyone keep calling me chocobo-head. You and Reno both do it." The raved looked at his nephew with a look that said 'Do you really have to ask that?' Cloud just cocked his head and Zack rolled his eyes. "Because, dear Cloudster. Your hair looks like the back end of chocobo. Duuuhhh." Zack started laughing loudly due to the surprised look on Cloud's face but had to gasp for breath when the blond suddenly pounced on him. "You think that's funny? You think my hair is funny you porcupine? I'll show you what's funny." And with that Cloud started to tickle torture the older male.

_AN: Gods, I had so. much. fun. writing this chapter that it almost wrote itself. Ever since I've started to type this story I've had tons of inspiration. _

_I also excuse for any errors concerning Zack's treatment of Sephiroth, speciality in chapters to come. I've never been to a psychologist so I don't know if what I write is correct. Most of the things I include I have either researched on the internet or learned in behavioural sciences. (Don't know if that's the correct English term)_

_Lots and lots of love to shoes who reviewed, faved or favourite this story._

_**Clolot: **__I may or may not chance the rating to M, it'll depend on how the story will evolve. Je ne suis pas française, je suis belge mais je parle le français aussi. (Pas très bien mais…) Pauvre Sephiroth, il a tous des problèmes mais Zack va le guérir avec amour._

_**Catslock :**__ I'm very glad you liked it. I've got no idea either, but I guess this is where the saying 'Where there's a Highwind there is way' comes in. XD_

_Reviews make me happy and a happy me writes more and faster. (hint hint)_


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